Would you keep spending time creating, and posting, fabulous content on your blog if you knew no one was reading it?  Well, if you don’t have a way for visitors to get new posts then I’m afraid that’s exactly what’s happening.

So if your blog is like a cactus isolated out in the middle of the desert where no one can get to it, it’s time to make some changes.

Here are some of the things you need to have on your blog if you want it to get read (in order of importance):

1. Option for visitors to receive updates

When people visit your blog if they don’t have a way to request future updates they’ll probably never read another post because they won’t be returning.  Not because they’re not interested, but they’re busy and they’ll forget.

I recommend offering both an RSS feed and adding an e-mail sign up (one option for this is http://www.feedburner.com).  This needs to be in a prominent place on your blog.

2. Add a ReTweet button

If you don’t do #1 above, no one will even know there is information to ReTweet.  And even if you’re not on Twitter, add the button anyway.  Why pass up the opportunity to let other people share you content?

3. Add a Facebook ‘like’ button

4. Have a link on your blog to your website and vice versa

Take action now to make sure your valuable posts are getting read! And if you like this post, and want to get more like it be sure to subscribe to my RSS feed or get e-mail updates by signing up here on the left side of this page.

Time is precious to a business owner.  Are you using yours wisely?  Do your marketing strategies allow you to leverage your time and reach an abundance of prospective clients?

If you’re spending the majority of your time marketing one-to-one you may be missing out on a lot of business.  One-to-one is you communicating with one other person; one sender and one receiver.  This could be a conversation in person, on the phone, or via e-mail.

A more effective marketing approach is one-to-many.  This is you communicating with many people at the same time.   

Here are some one-to-many marketing ideas using three different marketing strategies: speaking, writing, and on-line networking.

1. SPEAKING

* If you enjoy being in front of a group, speaking live in person for people who are interested in your work is an amazing way to connect.  People get to see you and hear you speak which is very powerful.

* Getting interviewed on the radio, TV, or by someone with a large website presence will get your message in front of thousands of people.  Just be sure the audience matches your ideal clients.

* Another way to reach a large group of people is a teleclass (you speaking on the telephone with many people).  Using the phone you may be able to reach even more people than you could at a live event because geography isn’t an obstacle for attendance.

There are a multitude of companies who provide teleconferencing services.  One I have used, which is free and offers a private bridge line and free recordings of your calls, is http://www.freeconferencecalling.com/.

* You can share the digital recording of your presentation with groups of people on the internet.

* The digital audio file can also be burned on to a CD and you can give away the CD’s to groups.

2. WRITING

* Sending a regular newsletter (ezine) to people who have requested to receive information from you is a superb one-to-many action.  In addition to valuable information be sure to make an offer with a clear call to action.

* Articles you write, for your ezine or otherwise, can be posted on article database websites.  This multiplies the number of readers.  Many people can read the article where you posted it in addition to places where your article is re-published.

* Posting new content on your blog (or other people’s blog) gets your message out to many as well.

* Interviews can also be done in a written format.  You do the interview once, and it goes out to numerous readers.

3. ON-LINE NETWORKING

When you post messages, comments, or updates on the various virtual/social networking websites your communication reaches everyone who is connected to you.

So if you don’t have many connections, make the time to invite people to join you.  Here are some popular places to network on-line.

* Facebook.com

* Linkedin.com

* Twitter.com

* Plaxo.com

Are you starting to see how you can invest less time and reach more people simultaneously by using one-to-many marketing?  Review your current marketing strategies and think about how you can incorporate the concept of one-to-many into as many activities as possible. 

Make the decision to implement your new strategies and see the difference it will make in your business.

(c) Stephanie Ward, 2009

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this information with it: Stephanie Ward is the Marketing Coach for Entrepreneurs who want to set their profits on fire!  Grab your FREE copy of the special report ’7 Steps to Attract More Clients in Less Time’ plus business building tips, at: http://www.fireflycoaching.com.

Do you know how you can create a connection with all of your potential clients with one action?  How to build relationships over time in a consistent way?  One of the most efficient ways to do this is with a newsletter also known as an ezine.

Don’t panic, there are many ways to create valuable information that don’t include writing long articles.  We’ll get to that in a minute.  First, here’s why this is important.

WHY

Maybe you’re thinking this sounds like a great idea but it will be a lot of work and take a lot of time.  It is an investment and one that can pay off big time.  Here are several reasons why it’s time to start connecting and sharing:

1. It is a great way for you to reach your entire community at one time.

2. You’ll always have something valuable to offer people who are interested in your business.   

3. If you don’t stay in contact, people forget about you and your business.  You know the expression – out of sight out of mind.

4. People’s needs change over time.  Just because someone isn’t interested right now, doesn’t mean that they may not be later.  Plus, the more people who know about you, the more referrals you will get.

5. You position yourself as an expert.

6. You can reuse the information on your website, for workshops, ebooks, or in a free report.

7. You have the opportunity to ask your community for feedback and/ or to announce new products and services.

WHO

You may have heard the people who subscribe for your ezine referred to as your ‘list’ as in a list of people.  That feels really impersonal to me so I’ll be referring to this group of people as your community.

You already have a community of people you know, although they may not yet have agreed to receive your information.  Put together a list of people who you think would be interested in your new ezine and ask them if they’d like to receive it.

To attract new people (who don’t know you) into your community, you need to do a bit more.  You will need to offer them something extra, in addition to your ezine, in order for them to give you their name and e-mail address and agree to receive your ezine.  Think about offering a special report, a case study, or a list of worthwhile tips.

WHAT

You’ve heard the expression, content is king.  This is still the case.  What you share must be valuable and relevant information that people in your community can use.  Here are some ideas of what you can use for content.  You can use one, or a combination of these:

- Valuable Tips.  A tip doesn’t have to be long to be powerful and effective.  If you provide great tips that people can really use, you will build a following.

- Inspiring quotes.  This means no writing for you, only research.  Pretty easy since quotes are everywhere and easy to find.

- Articles that other people write. Type the words ‘free articles’ into a search engine and you’ll get page after page of websites packed with articles you can use for free. 

- Articles that you write.  They don’t have to be long.  I’ve seen some ezines that describe themselves as a “one minute” read.

In addition to the beneficial information you provide, it is perfectly acceptable and normal for you to also promote your products and services.  In fact, it would be a disservice if you didn’t.

You want to make it easy for your community to understand how your business can help them.  Think about keeping the portion of promotion about your business to about 20% of the total content of each ezine. 

WHEN

So how often should you be in touch with your community?  Here is the general consensus about this.

> Once a month is the minimum

> Every other week is ideal

> Weekly is the maximum

What is absolutely critical is that no matter what frequency you choose, deliver what you promise.  Consistency and reliability are critical for building a relationship with your community.

This is the trust part of the fact that people do business with people they ‘know, like and trust.’  You can send out additional announcements in between your regular schedule, just don’t overdo it.

HOW

Please, do not use your e-mail program to send out your information.  It just won’t work over time as your community grows, trust me.  I use 1ShoppingCart and there are some other popular options as well like: AWeber and Constant Contact.

Are you starting to see how consistently staying in touch with your community by providing them with useful information is more than worth it?  Don’t delay; make the decision to begin today and start connecting and sharing!

© Stephanie Ward, 2007

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this information with it: Stephanie Ward is the Marketing Coach for Entrepreneurs who want to set their profits on fire!  Grab your FREE copy of the special report ’7 Steps to Attract More Clients in Less Time’ plus business building tips, at: http://www.fireflycoaching.com.

All the experts kept saying it was a great way to give value, gain free publicity, and position yourself as an expert.  It was something I had planned to do for years and I finally did it for the first time in May, 2005 and I’ve been doing it ever since.  What is it?  Writing articles.  Don’t be like me and wait, get started today!

OK, I can hear the moans of protest from here, so let me explain what writing articles can mean for your business and perhaps you will be willing to give it a shot?  For those of you who love to write this is your big chance to get started or to write even more.

You don’t need to have a weekly or monthly newsletter in order to consistently write articles although this is a good way to make sure that you produce at least one article per month (it sure keeps me on schedule).

Pick a topic you are passionate about, one that allows you to provide insightful information that will help your clients, and start writing.  An average length for an article is 500-800 words.

Once you have completed your article ask a friend or colleague to review it for you and give you feedback.  If you’re going to take the time to writing something, make sure it’s the best it can be!

There isn’t room in this article to go into all of the details of how to write, there are plenty of resources out there if you need help in this area.

The point is that you, as the owner of your business, know a lot about the problems your clients face and how you can help solve them.  You have valuable information that people want and need, so why not give it to them? 

Writing is like any other skill, it takes practice and over time you will improve and find your own unique voice.

So what’s the big deal, what can you do with an article?  I’ll mention a few here, be creative and don’t limit yourself:

1. When you meet people who fit your ideal client profile offer to send them an article.  No sale, no pitch, just sharing something that will support them.

2. Offer your articles to strategic alliance partners for them to give to their clients.

3. Place your articles on your own website so visitors can see the value you offer. 

4. Once you have several articles you can package them together and voila, an instant e-book you can give away or sell.

5. Finally, a highly leveraged action to take is to place your articles on the internet where publishers go to find content for their publications.  This is really simple and it will cost you nothing.

There are different places to submit your articles on the internet depending on your focus and content.  Here are just some of the websites where I place my articles: Ezine Articles, Go Articles, Article City, Amazines, Idea Marketers,  and Business Know How.

To find more places where can publish your articles, search the keywords ‘article submission sites’ and any other keywords related to your business.   

Be sure to include a brief ‘author bio’ with each article you write and publish (see mine at the end of this article).  This way, when people read your article they know how to connect with you in case they want to know more.

Include a “call to action” in your author bio that invites the reader to take an action like: sign up for your newsletter, get a free report, or receive a sample of your product or service.   

Because you can allow your article to be re-published without permission you may not actually know how much exposure you have received.  To find out where you have been published simply type the name of your article into Google.

In some cases you will be contacted for permission even though it isn’t necessary.  You may also hear from people who want to thank you for allowing your article to be reprinted.

What will sharing your articles do for you?

- Giving people valuable information they can use makes you a resource and increases the possibility that people will think of you, and your business, when they have a need.  This is a way to let people get to know you and start building a relationship with you.

- You will increase your exposure by publishing your articles in many places.  Increasing your exposure increases your reach to potential clients. Think leverage! 

- You position yourself as an expert in your field by writing about the kinds of problems you solve for your clients.  Everyone wants to work with an expert.

These things will all contribute toward the growth of your business.  Don’t look for results overnight and stay focused on serving your clients by producing articles that will help them be successful.

Writing is just one of many marketing strategies you can use to grow your business.  Remember, the most important aspect of any successful marketing strategy is consistent implementation.  So please don’t write one article and then decide it doesn’t work and give up.  If you choose writing as one of your strategies, stick with it and leverage everything you create!

(c) 2005 Stephanie Ward

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR NEWSLETTER OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this information with it: Stephanie Ward is the Marketing Coach for Entrepreneurs who want to set their profits on fire!  Grab your FREE copy of the special report ’7 Steps to Attract More Clients in Less Time’ plus business building tips, at: http://www.fireflycoaching.com.